‘Our children are welcome everywhere’: Mayor Lightfoot and Chicago police leaders address safety concerns before holiday weekend

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other city officials rolled out summer safety plans Friday, trying to emphasize the joy that comes with the start of summer in Chicago even as crime concerns downtown and across city neighborhoods continue.

At a news conference Friday morning, Lightfoot defended the need for an earlier curfew for young people. And she said the city is prepared for any violence.

All of the city’s beaches and lakefront will reopen, the mayor said, and Chicago has numerous events planned throughout the weekend and summer. But, she said, the government can’t maintain safety alone and residents must also keep track of their children to make sure teenagers aren’t misbehaving.

Lightfoot addressed controversy over her policy mandating unaccompanied teenagers be banned from visiting Millennium Park after 6 p.m. from Thursdays through Sundays, a measure she enacted earlier this month after large groups of mostly Black and brown teenagers caused a scene downtown culminating in a teenager being shot and killed by The Bean sculpture. Lightfoot said the city wants to be welcoming to the city’s children no matter their race.

“Our children are welcome everywhere (and) anywhere they wanna be. This is their city, too. And we shouldn’t be afraid of Black and Brown kids coming downtown,” Lightfoot said. “We don’t act that way when white kids come downtown en masse. We just don’t. The issue is not that they come downtown, not that they’re coming in big groups, the issue is if the behavior is one that recognizes and respects people, property and spaces.”

The situation presents a thorny problem for Lightfoot, who has made equity for Black and brown residents a top priority but who has also implemented policies like the Millennium Park rule that some say marginalize people of color.

Lightfoot also promoted an app, My CHI. My Future, that she said lists events for young people who want to enjoy the summer safely.

A consistent theme from multiple speakers at the press event was a need for parents to be in close contact with their children and teenagers and a need to make sure youth are engaged this summer.

Much of Chicago’s gun violence problem, however, involves ongoing street conflicts between individuals who are older, many in their 20s. And while the downtown incidents have caused alarm, the highest rates of gun violence occur in generally the same places they always have, neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city that have been starved of resources and deprived of public safety for years.

Tamara Mahal, who leads the city’s newest effort to address violence — the Community Safety Coordination Center — noted in her remarks that there would be an increase this summer in street outreach workers, from several community organizations, who are a presence in some of the more dangerous pockets and respond to shootings to calm tensions immediately and prevent retaliation. This intervention work engages those most at risk of violence, Mahal said.

“This is a dangerous job. … But these individuals are working to directly intervene before violence occurs between groups,” Mahal said. “I want to say thank you for what you are doing and for using the opportunity to make your life better but also make the lives of others better.”

Mahal also said the coordination center would be working at the block level to fast-track help and resources for what neighborhood groups need to keep areas thriving. She also said that this summer would bring expanded evening programming hours.

Police Superintendent David Brown said focused traffic missions and foot and bike patrols will be utilized, and the department will continue to target its efforts on the city’s least safe spots, where gun violence is more prevalent.

The holiday weekend, however, will add some 40 events for city officials to monitor, from a Coldplay concert to the Crosstown Classic, in addition to the opening of the beaches.

The department has also experienced a higher than usual number of retirements. On Friday, Brown offered assurances, however, that all parts of the city would be covered. Officials also said later that days off for officers during the weekend have been canceled, which is not unusual for a holiday weekend.

“For the holiday weekend we have increased resources in all of our communities,” Brown said. “And I want to emphasize the resources we have in place in the neighborhoods will remain in those neighborhoods.”

There was some good news offered on gun violence so far this year.

Brown announced that homicides are down 11% and shootings are down 16% so far this year compared to 2021.

Yet, the start of summer comes after a difficult two weeks, including the fatal shooting of the 16-year-old at the Bean. Days later, there was a mass shooting near a McDonald’s near the Magnificent Mile that left two dead.

This has prompted members of clergy to schedule a “Michigan Avenue prayer walk” to Millennium Park, Pastor Michael Eaddy, of the People’s Church of the Harvest in East Garfield Park, said Friday, at the news conference.

“We will pray and walk to Millennium Park,” Eaddy said. “We know that certainly has been a focal point of tension in recent days. … We will also declare our commitment as a faith community and faith leaders to the city of Chicago, certainly to our young people for safety and peace throughout these coming months.”